The Alcuin Society has announced the winners of its 31st annual Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada.

The winning books will be exhibited in Germany at the Frankfurt and Leipzig Book Fairs; in Japan, at the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo, in conjunction with the Tokyo International Book Fair; and, in Canada, in nine provinces. Exhibition venues will be posted on the Alcuin Society website. The books will also be entered in the international book design competition in Leipzig, Germany in February 2014.

Awards will be given out this fall in both Toronto and Vancouver.

This year's judges, Marvin Harder, Naomi MacDougall, and William Rueter, selected 41 winning titles from 236 entries, from nine provinces and 112 publishers; Mr. Rueter was presented with the 6th Robert R. Reid Award and Medal for Lifetime Achievement in the Book Arts in Canada.

First prize:Linda Gustafson & Peter Ross (Counterpunch Inc.), designers of Living the Canadian Dream: How Canadian Tire Became Canada’s Store, by Daniel Stoffman (Canadian Tire Corporation Ltd.);Second prize:Alan Brownoff, designer of Game Plan: A Social History of Sport in Alberta, by Karen L. Wall (The University of Alberta Press);Honourable mention:Brandon Bergem & Nicole Hunt, designers of Warehouse Journal vol. 21 by Brandon Bergem & Nicole Hunt (The Warehouse Journal, The University of Manitoba).

The Alcuin Society (http://www.alcuinsociety.com) is a Vancouver based non-profit society for the support and appreciation of fine books. In addition to the annual book design competition, the Society awards The Robert R. Reid Award and Medal, for lifetime achievement in the book arts in Canada. It also publishes a journal, Amphora, and organizes lectures, workshops, exhibitions, and field visits on various aspects of the book.